Wide Eyes Full of Wonder
by Sleazy E
Summary: Kodi's first date with Dusty. Will Dusty have a good time, or will Kodi be left sloshing through the mud by himself. A very short story about Kodi and Dusty's first date.


**Wide eyes full of wonder**

"Kodi this is stupid." Dusty said matter-of-factly, stopping cold in her tracks, mud slinking up between her toes and flowing over on tops of her paws. She opened her eyes for the first time in nearly a hundred yards, filled with contempt that came full thrush through her face in a scowl of her gentle lips and a lowering of her eyebrows.

In front of her, Kodi squeezed under a branch that leaned exceptionally low to the trail. His belly dragged against the mud until his weight actually rested on his stomach and he pressed himself forwards with his back paws, guiding himself with his front. Coming full upright on the other side of the branch, Kodi turned half around and faced Dusty with his body sidelong. Mud coursed down the fur along his belly, large chunks of rock, sticks, and other god-only-knows stuff stuck stubbornly to his loose fur. When his eyes locked onto Dusty's a dejected sigh escaped him. "Dusty, you need to keep your eyes closed or else it won't be a surprise."

"A surprise!" Dusty yelled. Her mouth spewing forth an astounded befuddlement of indignation that shocked Kodi and made him retreat back mentally. "You call this a surprise? … I'll have you know Kodi, when I agreed to go do _something fun _with you. I expected more than a trounce through a swamp."

Kodi felt his mind regrouping for the rebuttal. "It isn't a swamp."

At that moment, from just off to Dusty's right, a black as coal puddle exploded. A creature leapt forth, his green back legs splayed far out behind him and his green snub nose flying right for Dusty's right paw. Shock heaved slow up Dusty's spine, and when it finally hit her brain, she exploded backwards with a girlish scream that silenced the nightmarish shrub trees and every bug, animal, or anything else that made noise, around them.

"_Ribbet, Ribbet_" The frog that sat in between Kodi and Dusty puffed his throat out like a giant balloon. Croaking one more time, the frog deflated his throat, swirled his deep black eyes towards Kodi, then back to Dusty, before throwing himself into another puddle on the other side of the trail.

Kodi's eyes stayed locked on the ripples that the frog had left slowly pulsating out. They vanished slow and Kodi's eyes gradually moved up to Dusty's. She looked at him with acid coldness.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't just call this date off and go home to clean myself up." Dusty ordered with - what seemed - an unusual calm voice; considering how angry and frightened she had been just moments earlier.

Shrugging his shoulders Kodi began to turn away from Dusty and down the dark trail that led to the _surprise_. "Because if you do you'll never know what I wanted to show you." Kodi said slyly and turned full around with an optimistic swish of his tail. In truth, Kodi did fear that Dusty would just walk away. She was strong enough in the mind that she didn't need somebody constantly by her side talking. And if she didn't bight on to what Kodi taunted her with, he knew he would truly be screwed in the non-literal sense.

Dusty raised her upper right lip, letting her glistening white teeth show through and her right eye close halfway like she had gone insane at someone scratching their nails on a chalkboard. She growled deep and sullenly. Rolling her eyes up towards the low red sky above, she continued on. Pushing her body under the branch she slid her belly along through the mud and stood. A heaved breath of dissatisfaction broke away from her as she looked down along her left side, mud covered her entire undercarriage, all the way up to her shoulders and haunches. _This better be a good surprise. Otherwise I'm going to rip that dog's head off. _ She thought to herself. Giving a good boost of speed to her paws she caught up with Kodi before he turned the corner in the tightly packed trail and gave a growl, just so Kodi would know she wasn't happy.

Kodi grimaced. In all his daydreaming and planning of this evening he never thought about checking the place out for real – specifically the trail to this place. Kodi was sure that the place in question hadn't changed much since he was a puppy; only his dad and mom knew about it and had been the ones who showed it to him. But that was long ago. Had the _special place_ changed in that time? Kodi hoped not.

On they continued up through the dark grey swamp, Kodi leading as strong and proud as he could look; Dusty followed with her distempered scowl and inner nagging.

_Sometimes I just want to rip his head off. _Dusty thought calmly, her eyes locked square on the back of Kodi's fat head. Her mind began to drift back to when she agreed to go on this stupid _date_, and how much she would have loved to yell at herself. _Stop, don't do it! You have no idea what kind of trouble you're getting yourself into! All he's going to do is lead you into the bowels of Dead-pup Swamp for a scamper through the mud! _She could see herself now in her minds eye, standing stupidly over a bowl of half finished slump behind the post office licking her chops. Kirby and Ralph had both finished their food with exceptional speed, leaving just her and Kodi.

"Wait up guys." Dusty called after the two fleeting friends. But they didn't even stop, not even slow, not even acknowledge her.

It was then that Kodi made his move. As casually as he could he moved away from his bowl of slump. Across his face he held a smug grin, his steps slow, somewhat like a strut; at his back he held his tail high and proud towards the sky. Then, with the most grace Dusty had ever seen, Kodi slipped; his front right foot sliding across a piece of black ice and mud and directly into Dusty's food bowl. Kodi's chest hit the spring snow and mud. Slump flew into the air; Dusty leapt back, and then the slump came down on Kodi's face.

Dusty had never laughed so hard in her life as she stared down at the white mush that cascaded down his rust colored cheek. Kodi looked up at Dusty in pain, but not of the body. This was the pain that comes to a male dog when his dignity is rubbed through the dirt and laughed at. A tear began to form on the edge of Kodi's eye, but he sniffled, and it fell into his fur without notice.

Kodi stood, obviously in physical pain too. No longer had he looked like he wanted to ask Dusty if she wanted to go do something. He began to turn when Dusty stopped him.

"Wait." Dusty said with a reassured power to her voice. Kodi turned sheepishly "Did you want to ask me something?"

For a moment Kodi was silent. Then he began slow … "Well, I – I mean me, as in alone, I … would like to see if you, Dusty, would like to spend some – you know, time with me, doing something …fun?"

Dusty had expected the question full on so it didn't surprise her in the least. She calmly smirked at Kodi, and bowed her head. "I'd be delighted."

_Delighted my foot! _Dusty barked in her mind. A stick had just slashed across her face, narrowly missing giving her a good slap across her left eye.

"It's just a little further." Kodi stated reassuringly. "Don't worry we'll be out of this in a moment." Kodi turned his head slightly over his shoulder and caught a good look at the side of Dusty's face as she looked off into the brush. She never looked so beautiful. Even with all the gunk and junk stuck to her fur, she looked like an angle that had fallen from on high just to grace him with her beautiful presence

For weeks leading up to the actual '_date_' Kodi had done research and planning on how to keep a girl interested – even though now it didn't seem to be working very well. All the research started when a young brown husky of about 10 months of age (Or what would be considered 18 in human years) began frequenting the back area behind the post office when the team harnessed up and ate. At first he didn't say anything and watched the team from afar with mild delight. Kirby, Ralph, Dusty, and Kodi all thought that maybe he was looking to get on the team. Mr. Simpson even took heed in the young dog's interest in his team and began to throw him a piece of jerky every now and then.

Then one day the young dogs true reason for watching the team came foreword. A sudden burst of bravery pulsated through the young dog, and he stepped forwards through the team, making his way for one dog in particular, Dusty. His eyes looked set on one goal and nothing else; and his quarry didn't see him coming until it was too late. Dusty gave an odd look when she looked up at the young dog not more than six inches away, his eyes straight and still. The entire team drew silent as they waited for something to happen. Then it did.

Lashing his tongue out in a doglike kiss, the newcomer kissed Dusty square on the lips. The young dog then leapt away with an excited yip and vanished around the side of a building. Leaving Dusty blushing so hard that not even the fact that her face was covered with fur, (not to mention the fact that dogs can't blush,) stopped her face from turning bright red.

The team had a good laugh about the incident for some time and jokes fell hard on Dusty. But several days later when the same dog showed up with a muscular cocksure swagger about him; he learned his lesson about stealing kisses when Dusty chased him down and slashed his shoulder open. The young dog never returned.

It was this sudden act that made Kodi begin thinking about Dusty and how strong his feelings for her were, and for how long he had had them. The idea of asking Dusty out didn't scare Kodi. Yet the thought that she would find him boring and he wouldn't have anything to say, and that he would have no place to take her, and that she wouldn't find him interesting enough to stay with scared the hell out of Kodi.

So Kodi's quest to gain knowledge on showing a girl a good time began. Not really knowing where to start – and not wanting to sound like a complete putts – Kodi began his quest in stealth. His close friends Kirby and Ralph had their fare share of girls under their collar. So that seemed like a good place to start.

At first Kodi began slow and thoughtful, all the while being sure to check himself over and over again so as not to sound inexperienced. He began one evening when Kirby returned from a date and began to regale his friends with everything that happened; like he usually did after a great night. Dusty was asleep. Usually Kodi wouldn't listen and would go to sleep himself, but now he did and took mental notes too. But his plan to keep himself in check didn't seem to work.

Questions flew from Kodi like bullets from a machine gun. "So where did you go? What did you talk about? What do you think she thought of you? So you should keep the talk interesting?"

It wasn't hard for Kirby to tell that Kodi had something else on his mind than a sudden lust to hear about his dating. Nevertheless Kirby played along and told Kodi ever little detail he asked for – as long as it didn't get down to the nitty gritty. When it neared the end of the night Ralph toddled off to his corner of the room. Having lost all interest in the conversation, he quietly slipped into sleep while Kirby went on about his date.

As soon as Kirby could see Ralph snoring away, he stopped talking, and locked eyes dead on with Kodi's. "Kodi, now that it's just me and you, and everybody else is asleep, why don't you tell me the real reason you're asking all these questions. I know you didn't just find my story interesting. Is this about somebody … maybe, Dusty?"

"No!" Kodi shot back forcefully "of course not … I'm, I'm … just um-"

"-In love." Kirby said full of apathy sounding interest.

Kodi lowered his ears and looked away embarrassed. He shuffled his paws like he was about to stand and walk away. "Well … yeah maybe I am." Kodi stood. "It's just that um …"

"You're inexperienced?"

"Well, not so much inexperienced as …"

"In green around the collar to the dating world?"

Kodi shook his head slow and thoughtfully. "Yes." He hadn't stopped himself from looking, what he still thought, as a complete idiot.

Kirby stood with a groan like an old wise teacher would just before sharing the secrets to every problem that plagued the world. "Well." His voice idealistic and happy. "I guess we'll just have to teach you."

So it was in that, that Kodi's learning truly begun. Kodi began taking long walks with Kirby, talking about what to say, how to say it, how to act, what to roll in so you smell just right before your date. Kodi also took walks with Ralph; but Ralph was more forlorn in his attempt to educate Kodi – even Kodi knew that Ralph was giving bad advice.

But Kodi's learning only went so far, and stopped cold when Kodi asked a coarse question.

"So Kirby," Kodi said slyly. They were walking down a back alley on their way back to the boiler room. The evening was beginning to draw to a close. "How do I … you know – get a girl to …"

Kirby raised his ears in shock. His paws stopped cold in the snow and his eyes moved very slow and full of dismay over to Kodi. "What?"

Kodi didn't really want to repeat the question, but did so anyway. "Well, you know, get a girl to love you … in that special -"

Kirby began moving again, almost as if he had ignored the question completely. Laughter escaped him with mild delight "You got to find that out on your own," Were his final guiding words.

With Kodi feeling full of fresh ideas and tactics, he set out to take the first step and ask Dusty out. Setting up a little plan in which Kirby and Ralph both willingly participated in for the beginning Romeo, Kodi reveled his plan, which in essence didn't require much. Kirby and Ralph were to both finish their food as fast as they could and leave together, completely ignoring anything Dusty said to them, then Kodi would make his move. His move had gone horribly wrong when he slipped on some ice and hit her dish of slump, but it had come out unexpectedly well in the end.

"Almost there Dusty, it's just a little further." Kodi tried to reassure Dusty.

Dusty growled irritably. "My foot." She whispered just out of earshot of Kodi. "So what is this place you're taking me to? All I know is that it's special." Her voice was racked with irritation and bitterness.

"Well … it's um … a surprise. I can't tell you about it. You can only see it to understand it."

"What kind of explanation is that?" Dusty balked. She reared herself back up and knitted her eyebrows together. "Tell me what it is that's so special." Ordered Dusty.

Kodi stopped walking when he realized Dusty had stopped. "No, I can't." He turned half around to Dusty. "You're just going to have to find out on your own."

Dusty glared at Kodi, and a very long tense silence passed between the two of them. "I'm thinking I want to go home. Especially if you don't want to tell me where we're going. You could be taking me out into the swamp to finish me off for all I know." She began to turn away.

Jumping to the scene, Kodi flashed past her and faced her full on; his voice easing her down and calming her. "Wait, wait, wait. … Okay, if you agree to go and see it, I'll tell you all about it."

_That's more like it. _Dusty thought with a smirk, turning back around down the dark trail. Kodi looked in pain to reveal where they were going. "Well?" Dusty snorted when she fully faced the opposite way than Kodi waiting for him to take the lead.

Kodi pushed around Dusty and began to tread his way down the trail; his head hung low in defeat and his paws gliding sluggishly through the mud. Dusty felt a twinge of guilt and sorrow. "Come on and I'll tell you all about it as we walk." Kodi said apathetically.

Dusty pushed herself along and up next to Kodi, keeping her front shoulders even with Kodi's back legs, but always somehow close enough to his side to feel like they were walking in tandem.

"Well," Kodi began; his mood seemed to have brightened up – at least in his voice. "When I was a pup, my father one day told us, when we were young and ready to get a taste of the world, about this beautiful place that only he knew about."

"Uh-huh." Dusty bobbed her head.

"Anyways, my dad set up this picnic for us, our whole family, mom, and all of us." Kodi grinned. "So, our mom and dad led us on this scamper about the swamp. We weren't scared is what we all said to each other. But in fact, we were scared to a degree. This was our first steps into the world after all We ran around chasing our tails, playing tag," Kodi grinned even harder, "And took a few falls into some mud." He chuckled slightly and looked over his shoulder at Dusty who received Kodi with an understanding grin.

"So what is this place?" Dusty asked calmly.

Kodi sighed with a heartfelt thud that sunk all the way down to his paws and made them trip up, "It's one of the most beautiful places in the world, and it's right in the center of one of the ugliest swamps. So that means that nobody knows about it."

"Uh-huh," Dusty said, her voice filled with a low seething. "But you still need to tell me what this place is."

"I know." Kodi threw over his shoulder; his eyes never opening to look at Dusty. "But we're already there. So I figured I'd just let you see it for yourself.

Around them the swamp had changed without Dusty even noticing it, and Kodi barely noticing it. Grass suddenly carried their paws along with a regal elevation that sucked them along without thought or effort. The trees that had been twisted hulks void of leaves, constantly staring and threatening, became scrub bushes just a little higher than Kodi's shoulders and flush with green. Some of them carried thick red berries. The old golden leaves that had fallen from the branches in the fall piled liberally in great mounds under them, only intersected here and there by rabbit trails that squirmed around madly. For nearly a hundred yards in all directions these plants stretched before the swamp took over again in it's low guttural mire that stuck stubbornly to the fur.

Though neither of them could really see it, they had begun to climb a mound that came up out of the swamp. Near the top of the mound - which from the bottom just looked like nothing more than a little saunter across a nearly flat field - smoke rose in a single thick white column before dissipating away against the backdrop of a red sky.

"What is that smoke?" Dusty said craning her neck over a bush that had some luscious red berries fat with juice to the point of exploding.

"That's where we're going." Kodi said with a genial wink over his shoulder then turned around a bush towards the smoke. Dusty followed with wide eyes full of wonder.

They weaved endlessly through the field, leaves cracking under their feet, their eyes open and full of question. Then, quiet unexpectedly, they stumbled upon the source of the smoke. A bowl, nearly 100 feet around, dropped suddenly out of the land. Ten foot cliffs lined every side in sight. Thick timbered trees stood high with shrub underbrush heaped in the great shadows of the trees down in the dark hole. And from the center, hidden behind the timber, came the great clouds of smoke steadily rising.

A gentle gust of wind turned the great clouds towards Kodi and Dusty. It came slow and threateningly over the top of the trees. Dusty raised her head to smell it as it passed and winced her nose shut. "Oh! That stinks."

"Yeah," Kodi agreed without enthusiasm. His eyes scanned in all directions around the hole. "Now where is that trail?" He asked himself.

Dusty ravished her eyes along the nearby edge of the hole to, but try and she did, she couldn't find any sign of a trail. "I don't think there's a trail."

"Yeah there is, I've been down it."

"Are you sure?" Dusty asked doubtful.

Kodi shot Dusty an annoyed glance. "Yes. I just can't remember where it was though." Kodi and Dusty scanned the edge nearest them for a while longer before Kodi turned to Dusty and motioned along the edge of the hole with his shoulder. "Why don't we go this way, see if there's a trail over there?" Kodi turned right and began to move along the edge of the hole.

Dusty followed behind Kodi without a word, all the while looking down at the smoke that rose over the trees. Inside Dusty felt slightly scared. The smoke was so … unnatural smelling. She had never smelled something so foul in her life – except maybe a week old dead skunk. But yet, something about it was familiar. If only she could remember where she had smelled it before?

"So what's making that smoke? It's just so … nasty smelling." Dusty spoke after several minutes.

"Water." Kodi said flatly. His attention seemed to be concentrated solely on the cliff edge he walked on.

"Water?" Dusty laughed. "What water smells like that?"

"Warm water from the spring." Kodi's voice held an air of superiority, something like a person who had a secret about another person's parents.

Dusty didn't like it, and she thought about saying something, but didn't. She only stared curiously for a moment at the back of Kodi's head before she turned her head back to look for a way down.

They walked on for some time around the edge. Going nearly half way around the circle, and still never able to see exactly what was making the smoke, Kodi suddenly shouted out after going around a bush and out of Dusty's sight.

"AH-HAH!"

"Kodi?" Dusty yelled suddenly. "Are you okay?" She didn't wait for an answer and bolted around the bush to find Kodi sitting down on the edge of the hole looking down at the forest straight below him.

Kodi turned his head like someone who was about to ask what the question was when he felt Dusty's presence behind him. "I found the way down."

Dusty breathed normally. Rolling her eyes she stepped forwards. "Did you have to yell out like that? I thought you fell in."

Kodi winked as Dust sat down to his left side and cast her eyes down into the great hole in the ground. "I just wanted to see you." Kodi turned his head back towards the smoke.

Dusty scowled at Kodi, but it was all in fun.

Down below them the straight up and down wall fell gradually away and down into the trees. A trail, barely six inches wide and covered in gravel, zigzagged back and forth from right in front of Kodi's feet, making it's way far out to the left, then turning back to the right. The trail made, as Dusty counted, six turns before it vanished into the trees. One misstep anywhere would surly result in a bad roll down into the trees and brush some twenty feet below.

"Well, come on." Kodi said coming to his feet. He began to edge his paws carefully down the trail; his tail lashed out left and right furriously, keeping his balance just perfect. His paws stopping with every swish of his tail to readjust his center. Coming to the first turn Kodi stopped, examining the turn and how he was going to make it with the wall on his left. It came to him suddenly. With a powerful push of his back legs he threw his hips up into the air and balanced on his front legs. Slowly swinging around - his back paws gliding against the roc - he landed facing down the next turn. "Don't worry." Kodi called with a voice full of fear up to Dusty. "Nothing to it."

_Yeah right. _ Dusty thought as she began her own decent. Doing the same little spin-kick as Kodi did, Dusty flew down the trail hot on Kodi's trail. After six eccentric turns that all looked on the edge of death, the trail flattened out and fell into the forest.

The trees around them stood high and thick. Leaves blotted the sky above, grass, brush, and sharp thorns cloaked the ground below. They both walked shoulder to shoulder along the – now wide – trail, looking around them in awe.

Like waking from a dream, Kodi suddenly turned his head to Dusty and smiled. Dusty looked so beautiful; her deep eyes looking at the world around her and soaking it all in. Ears swiveled around like tiny satellite dishes to find every sound and noise. Her nose suddenly wrinkled in dissatisfaction. As if she knew that Kodi was watching her, she turned her head and gave a bashful blush of her fur. "What?"

"Nothing," Kodi turned back to looking down the trail. "It's just that we're almost there."

Dusty squinted her face up in wonder. "So what … or, um?" Not quite knowing what to ask she let it rest with her mumbling

"It's a hot pool."

"Hot pool?" Dusty balked. "What hot pool smokes?"

Kodi stopped and turned his body to Dusty, letting the mood and quiet emphasize his speech. "A very special pool." Kodi winked his right eye welcomingly. Dusty felt a sudden stirring inside her that she hadn't felt before, and she liked it.

They both continued on wordlessly, and it didn't take more than a moment for them to come through the trees to the most beautiful pool of water either of them had seen. A florescent blue came up from the depths; so clear was the water that the bottom looked sealed in glass and forever frozen. Around the pool trees stood high and hunched over, a sandbar stretched all around the fringe of the crystal water. Then there, in the center of the pool, water bubbled up like that in a cauldron with smoke rising high above the trees into the blue sky that began to fade into an encompassing yellow as the sun vanished.

"It's … it's … just so …"

"Beautiful." Kodi finished.

"Yeah." Dusty turned her head to Kodi's and found him staring deeply at her.

He heaved his chest out and sighed lovingly. "Beautiful." Kodi began to lean forward to nuzzle Dusty, but stopped short, waiting for Dusty to come halfway to him.

With that Dusty began laughing uncontrollably, raising her head to the sky and almost falling over onto her side she laughed hard enough that the forest around her became still, and her voice echoed off the walls of the caldera they were in. "Where did you learn that?" She scream giggled out. "That's so corny."

Kodi looked slightly hurt and drew himself back. Ears flattened against the back of his head he half smiled at Dusty; and looked away diffidently. "It's something my dad said to my mom at one point."

"Well," Dusty winked with a bright light in her eyes and an unmistakable boldness in her voice. "It almost worked."

Smiling wide and uncomfortably, Kodi spoke slowly, like a young pup to a beautiful girl. "So how close did it come?"

Dusty chuckled and brushed Kodi's question off by pushing past him and towards the blue water. The grassy trail fell away to the sandy beach, which under Dusty's paws, felt soothing and warm. She turned her head as Kodi came up beside her and stretched his toes apart. Sand fell between his toes and he grinned. "Warm, isn't it."

"Yeah." Dusty closed her eyes and spread her toes to let the sand slide in. She suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the water. "Is it warm, like the sand?"

Moving forward, Kodi walked with a casual calm. He lifted his right paw and dipped the tip of his toes under the water. Sand and mud dissolved away, and Kodi's toes came back out clean and white. "Just right I'd say."

"Is that so?" Dusty stepped forward and up next to Kodi's side. She raised her left front paw and sunk it three inches down to the bottom of the pool. Ripples steadily fell out away, carrying with them the sand and mud that dropped from her fur. A perplexed look then crossed Dusty's face, as if she were suddenly put in front of a jigsaw puzzle and told to complete it.

Kodi watched her face with an equally perplexed look. "Dusty, what is it?"

Dusty turned away, her face moving to a combination of pain and heartache that flew through her face in what looked to be the beginning of tears forming on the sides of her eyes. Even her fur looked hurt and in pain as she breathed unsteadily.

"Dusty, are you okay?" Kodi leaned in close to her. Dusty stepped away until she stood sideways to the pool with an open spot of sand between. "Dusty?" Kodi stepped to her side between her and the pool; this time she didn't move as Kodi leaned in close. _Is this some kind of emotional breakdown? _Kodi asked himself as he nuzzled his cheek against hers.

Then Dusty sniffled ever so lightly. "It's, it's … just that … I got you exactly where I want you."

"Huh?"

Before Kodi could even act, move, breath, think, Dusty threw herself into Kodi's side with everything she had, nearly knocking the breath from Kodi's lungs. Kodi's toes danced along through the sand as his body hurled towards the pool. But just as he was beginning to regain his balance, he tripped and rolled into the warm blue water.

Coming upright and soaked to the bone knee deep in the warm water, Kodi looked hard at Dusty who sat with a self-satisfied sneering of her eyes and a rising of her lips at Kodi.

"What did you do that for?" Kodi demanded

Dusty smirked even harder until she beamed with pride in her feat. "Because I wanted to see you in such a pitiful state."

For the first time Kodi looked down at himself and how thin and weak he looked. All his fur rested flat and smooth against his body, down his legs, along his back, and under his belly. The only place that his fur didn't lay flat was on the top of his head between his ears where about twenty long strands stood straight up like some plant. Water dripped from his fur and from the tip of his nose. Kodi did feel pretty stupid and foolish.

"Now," Dusty stepped forward. "You get to watch a pro swimmer show a land dog like you how to do it." She moved forward with the grace of a model. Her paws entered the water and the mud began to dissipate away. She sunk fast as she walked. Passing Kodi without even noticing his speechless stare that followed her until she sunk completely below the water.

Dusty then raised her head from under the water; fur standing on end between her ears just like Kodi's. Her legs kicked furiously below her as she motored around the pool with no real direction in her movement.

Kodi still stared.

After swimming out nearly twenty feet, she turned back and kicked her way straight towards Kodi, stopping when her paws touched the bottom and her shoulders broke the water. "Well, are you just going to stand there with your jaw open, or are you going to come in and join me?"

Kodi closed his open jaw. "Um, uh… yeah-no … I mean um … uh … yeah!"

Dusty giggled "Well then, come on."

Leaping into the water like a frog into a puddle, Kodi exploded after Dusty, who swam to the deeper water. Kodi began to paddle after her and together they raced each other in the pool. They continued on for nearly two hours, leaping and playing like children. One would tag the other, and then run into the trees. The other would run after the first, only to find the first one had gone back to the pool and began to swim around. Hours passed in games, and fun, and excitement, and a special click that neither of them had with anybody else ever. It passed so fast that the sun vanished the stars came out before they began to slow down.

Kodi sat up on the bank, he was tired and exhausted. His tongue lolled from the side of his mouth and dripped saliva down onto his party dry fur. In front of him under the light of the stars Dusty was just finishing up her last little dip. She swam for Kodi, only her head above the water. Her paws struck the mud on the bottom and she rose from the water towards Kodi.

Watching Dusty rise from the deep, Kodi felt something he hadn't before. Dusty's body moved with a certain agile up the bank, her muscles looked smooth but firm. Curves came down along her neck and around her shoulders, moving all the way down along her tail. She just never looked so beautiful to Kodi; and it made him want to cry out that he loved her.

Dusty sat next to Kodi and looked up at the sky, ignoring his star struck look that moved from her to the sky. Above them the sky opened bright and brilliant and stars arched across the veil of black. Dusty slowly let her head fall against Kodi's shoulder. A sigh of safety escaped her. She never felt so wonderful and in love in her entire life. It was a wonderful sigh, and meant a lot to Kodi.

"So was the trip worth it?" Kodi asked.

"Hmm?" Dusty raised her eyes to meet Kodi's; her voice full of love "What did you say?"

Kodi opened his mouth to repeat his question, but couldn't because the mood was to perfect "Nothing. I didn't say anything."

Dusty continued staring straight into Kodi's eyes with a tranquil peace.

"What is it?" Kodi asked. Dusty's eyes continued staring.

She then spoke slowly. "If you wanted to nuzzle me, this would be the time."

Kodi grinned and slowly brought his face down next to Dusty's. And there, under the light of the stars, next to a beautiful pool of water, hidden from anybody, Kodi and Dusty shared a special moment with one another.


End file.
